You might think that a heavily Asian American area like the San Francisco Bay Area would be immune to coronavirus related racial harassment, but these days, the large Asian American population means a lot more targets to hate. KGO, a local Bay Area TV station, has aired a special town hall called “Race and Coronavirus: A Bay Area Conversation.” You may find some of the incidents they show and talking about disturbing, but that’s what is happening out there.
Some highlights if you are pressed for time:
- Problems with naming viruses after geographic areas and how the Swine Flu and Spanish flu were not named after the US even though both originated in the US (12:13)
- Jeff Yang comments on Andrew Yang’s editorial on racism and the coronavirus (24:38)
- Guidelines on what to do if you are being harassed or if you see harassment happening (34:50)
Many people are given a chance to talk – I personally thought they could have cut the number down to make it more effective. Still, I think you may find it generally worth your time, and there are other parts of are alternatively scary, informative, and inspiring.
As we have mentioned before, if you experience incidents of coronavirus related hate, you can report it at this website.
